Multipurpose wrecking bar etc.



1970 H. Y. NAKASONE 3,522,932

MULTIPURPOSE WRECKING BAR ETC.

Filed Feb. 5. 1968 5 FIG. 2 9

I FIG, 33' 3' l6 l8 /4 l5 [6 /6 INVENTOR l7 ,7 HAROLD XNAKASONE UnitedStates Patent 3,522,932 MULTIPURPOSE WRECKING BAR ETC. Harold Y.Nakasone, 91-336 Papipi Road, Ewa Beach, Hawaii 96706 Filed Feb. 5,1968, Ser. No. 703,117 Int. Cl. B66f 3/00 U.S. Cl. 254-131 1 ClaimABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Removable fulcrum means for elongated toolssuch as crowbars and the like wherein the bar has ridges top and bottomin the direction of swing.

This invention relates to means and ways of effecting a better and wideruse of leverage bars and especially to the well known wrecking bar,crowbar, and other types of levers. The wrecking bar, for instance,generally has a loop at one end with a chisel-like terminal and theother end provided with a short angled portion which also has achisel-like terminal. One of the terminals is usually provided with atapered slot to accommodate the shank of a nail or the like. Theterminals are generally wedge shaped so that they can be forced betweena pair of objects and separate them.

This present invention provides a stronger bar than is common in suchtools and also provides an additional fulcrum means for the tool nearone or both ends of the tool and which is effective to provide forgreater leverage operation. The fulcrum or fulcrums may be removable soas not to be a hindrance to the full use of the tool when it isnecessary to insert the tool between closely alined surfaces.

One of the principal objects of the invention is to pro vide a wreckingtype bar that has more uses than present types and which can be so madethat the shank can have a smaller cross-section than normal butnevertheless gives the same or greater strength.

Another object is to present a new and novel type lever means that isneeded in the trade and which can be sold at an attractive price.

Other objects and advantages of this invention can be learned by perusaland inspection of the specifications and the drawings hereof.

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a leverage bar;

FIG. 2 is a top View of that shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the shank of the bar taken along theline 33 of FIG. 1 and shown on a somewhat larger scale;

FIG. 4 shows a modified form of the invention on a large scale; and

FIG. 5 shows another modified form of the invention.

With reference to the drawing figures, the numeral 1 indicates theelongated metal shank of the tool or Wrecking bar. The length thereofmay be of any suitable size and the material may be iron. As shown inFIG. 3, the cross-section of the shank is a pentagon, but the number offlat faces is immaterial and may vary, in fact, the cross-section may beof a rounded shape or even an oval shape, but it is preferred to havethe cross-section wherein the greatest length is in the plane of actionfor the bar. In the present design, the ridges, such as 2 and 3, are provided to give the greater strength in the swing plane of the bar. Thisdesign reduces liklihood of bending the bar and the bar for this reasoncan be smaller than similar bars now on the market.

One end of the shank 1 is shown as looped at 4 and its very end wedgeshaped and provided with spread apart ears 5 and 6. The ears are formedwith a tapered cut or opening 7 which is designed to engage nails etc.in a well ice known manner. The other end of the tool or shank isprovided with an end portion 8 which is bent to a slight angle withrespect to the shank and the very end of this portion is also providedwith spread apart ears 9 and 10. These ears also provide a tapered cutor opening 11 for engaging nails etc.

FIG. 3 shows a fulcrum 12 in position on the shank 1 and welded theretoas indicated at 3'. As shown in FIG. 1 the fulcrum is positioned justback of the line marked X. When so positioned, the shank formed fulcrumat Y first comes into use as the shank is swung in a vertical plane toforce movement of an object from a given surface. A little later, thefulcrum 12 becomes the Working fulcrum to provide a straighter lift asthe object is lifted. The V-cut 2' in the top surface of the fulcrum 12provides a proper seat for the shank and the fulcrum itself is longenough to prevent shifting of the shank out of line with respect to theplane in which the shank is made to swing.

The metal employed should be one of great strength such as iron orsteel. Bending of the shank should not be possible by the weight of oneor two men. The fulcrum, however, need only be metal of high compressionstrength.

FIG. 4 shows a modified form of a fulcrum means and it comprises afulcrum bar 12 having a rounded bottom edge 13. The top of this bar isfiat and has a recessed.

portion like that shown in FIG. 3 to accommodate the shape of the shank.A pair of metal spring clips 14 and 15, as shown, grip the shank. Eachclip portion has a spring metal upright band or leg 16, an outwardlyturned base portion 17 and an angularly directed short arm means 18. Thebase 17 is welded or brazed to the flat top surface of the fulcrum barand the bases are in properly spaced positions so that the clip meanssnugly engages the shank 1, as shown, and this allows the fulcrum meansto be shifted along the shank to any position desired where it can servebest.

Note, that the ends of the short arm means 18 is cu in a manner toprovide an easy grip means for spreading the spring legs 16 apart in theevent the fulcrum is to be removed for replacement, for instance. Sincethe fulcrums of this invention can have various depths, that is raise orlower the height of the fulcrum, various size fulcrums should beavailable. This avoids finding blocks to place under the usual built-infulcrum like Y in order to raise any object higher than is permitted bythe usual fulcrum. By shifting the fulcrum of this invention along theshank a position can be found most advantageous to meet the job at hand.For instance, when a nail is to be removed by the end 8, the fulcrum 12is so placed that the nail can be lifted in a more vertical directionand thus avoid bending the nail at the start of the pulling operation.This makes it easier to remove the nail from a well seated conditionbecause the friction is less when the nail is pulled straight upwardlyfrom the workpiece. The same is true when the tool is employed to liftnailed planks.

FIG. 5 shows another modified form of the invention and the fulcrum inthis form is also removable. The fulcrum means 20 has the rounded baseportion 21 and the top surface is flat except for the recessed V-cutformed by the surfaces 22 and 23. This V-cut accommodates the shape ofthe bottom portion of the shank 1. Integral with this fulcrum bar 20there is a stud 24 which is adapted to snugly enter the bore 25 of theshank. If desirable, the fulcrum means 20 and its integral stem or stud24 can be removed by tapping the top thereof with the small end of anail or the like. The shank is provided with bores to accommodate thefulcrum device at proper advantageous locations.

Certain novel features and details of this invention are disclosedherein, and in some cases in detail, in order to make the inventionclear in at least one or more forms thereof. However, it is to beclearly understood that the invention, as disclosed, is not necessarilylimited to the exact form or forms and details given since it isapparent that various modifications and changes may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the inven tion.

Having thus described my invention, what is claimed as new and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. The combination of a wrecking bar and a clip-on fulcrum element whichcan be shifted along the bar to various working positions; said barhaving a plurality of substantially flat sides, the fulcrum elementconsisting of a short bar which is at right angle to the wrecking bar, arecess in a central portion of the short bar which is configurated tosnugly accommodate a bottom portion of the wrecking bar, parallel spacedapart resilient arms integral with and extending from opposite sides ofthe recess on the short bar, said arms snugly engaging opposite sides ofthe Wrecking bar, and each arm having a distal end wherein the two endsare toed-in toward each other 4 to snugly engage different proximateflat sides of the Wrecking bar.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,525,226 10/1950 Lawellin 254-253,313,009 5/1967 Beckerer 24-257 D. 199,019 8/1904 Marson 254-131137,333 5/1873 Terhune 254-27 1,395,956 11/1921 Gillis 254-25 2,272,3622/1942 Barker 254-25 2,776,108 1/1957 Sherman 254-27 2,894,720 7/1959Bennett 254-25 2,896,910 7/1959 Cooper 254-131 3,134,574 5/1964Reuterfors 254-131 X OTHELL M. SIMPSON, Primary Examiner D. R. MELTON,Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

